The Fate of Daisies
by Kristen Elizabeth
Summary: Daisy, daisy, give me your answer true. DL, Spoilers for current season
1. Sweet Sixteen

Disclaimer: Characters contained within do not belong to me. 

Author's Notes: This is my first time writing for this pairing, which I have always liked. They're just so cute! Enjoy!

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The Fate of Daisies

by Kristen Elizabeth

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_Daisy, daisy, give me your answer true _

_I'm half crazy all for the love of you._

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"Only you, Montana."

Lindsay opened her eyes. The man standing at the foot of her hospital bed was shaking his head back and forth, an amused smile on his face. But he was also carrying a bouquet of flowers.

"What are you doing here?"

Danny ignored her question. "How does a country girl come to the big city…and end up getting bitten by a snake?"

"Just lucky, I guess." The anti-venom that had been pumped into her system left her weak and unable to defend herself from his teasing. "You didn't have to come all the way down here. I know you're on a case."

"Even Mac takes a break every now and then." He held the flowers out. "For you."

She took them hesitantly. "Daisies."

Danny lifted one shoulder. "You're the daisy type."

"The daisy type," she repeated. "Let me guess? Innocent and simple. Country."

"You forgot 'pretty'." He located a rolling stool, pulled it over and sat down, resting his elbows on his knees. "You know, daisies might look all fluffy and white, but they're held together with a really tough center."

Lindsay rolled her eyes. "I get it." She paused, reconsidering the sweetness of not only the gesture, but of his words. "Thanks."

In true form, he shrugged off her gratitude. "Wasn't a big deal. You get bit by a cobra, you get flowers. That's just how it works."

"It really wasn't that dramatic."

"You got air-lifted here, Montana." Danny's jaw shifted, like he was straining to hold something back.

Lindsay looked down at her hand; the puncture wounds weren't visible under several layers of gauze, but her whole arm still throbbed with the memory of the snake's fangs sinking into her flesh. "Okay, it was something to write home about."

Danny stared at her for a moment before he laughed shortly and loudly. "You drive me fucking nuts, you know that? Can't you worry about yourself just a little bit every now and then?"

"Come on. Everyone gets injured on the job occasionally. Even you."

"I super-glued my fingers together once." He pressed his thumb and index finger together to demonstrate. "Spent the whole day with my hand in my pocket. Hardly the same thing."

Fighting amusement, Lindsay sighed. "I don't know what you want me to do. Break down and cry because…"

"You could have died, Lindsay."

He very rarely used her real name, so when he did, she had to pay attention. "I had Sheldon right there with me. I was never in real danger, Danny."

"With your tiny little body, how much more venom would have been fatal? A drop? Maybe two?" He shook his head, this time furiously. Not at her, she realized. He was only mad at the things in life that he couldn't control. "We lucked out."

Lindsay tried to swallow, but her throat was bone dry. "We?"

"You because you're not dead. And me because I didn't have to buy those daisies for your funeral."

"You didn't have to buy them at all. In fact…maybe you shouldn't have." She looked away so she wouldn't have to see whatever expression came over his face. "I told you. Nothing can happen between us. A potentially life-threatening situation doesn't change things."

Danny was quiet for a minute. "I guess I still don't get why it can't happen. When we both pretty much want it."

"You don't know what I want," Lindsay shot back.

"You're right. I don't." His accent got thicker when he was upset. It was just one of a hundred things she knew about him that she wished she could have stopped herself from noticing. "But if you ain't interested, then what's this thing we got here?"

"What thing?" she challenged him.

"The thing," Danny repeated. "The thing that makes me really wanna kiss you." He steepled his fingers in front of his mouth. "Tell me you're not feelin' it…that you wouldn't let me…and we'll forget about it. But you gotta tell me, Montana. Right now."

She shivered, but she wasn't sure if it was from cold, hospital air or the fact that he'd inadvertently drawn her attention to his lips. They were nice lips. Slightly chapped, but full enough to make a girl wonder what they'd feel like gliding over her skin.

"Danny," Lindsay started. "It's a lot more complicated than…"

He cut her off by pulling a single daisy out of the bouquet that now lay across her lap. "Let's settle this the old-fashioned way." One by one, he began plucking petals. "She loves me…she loves me not…she loves me…she loves me not…"

"Danny, stop," she quietly pleaded with him. "Please don't make this harder."

"Hey, it's not me," he defended himself. "It's just plant fate. She loves me…she loves me not…"

Lindsay looked up at the ceiling. "I wish you'd just trust me about this. Don't you think that if I could, I would?"

Danny stopped pulling off petals. "You can, Montana. I'm right here. I ain't goin' anywhere."

Just then, his cell phone rang.

He cursed under his breath, and she had to smile. New Yorkers might not have invented the F-bomb, but they dropped it better than anyone else. "Messer," he answered. After listening for a second, he sighed. "Yeah…all right. I'll be there."

"Mac?" she guessed when he closed the phone up.

Without answering, Danny picked the flower back up. There were three petals to go. "She loves me…she loves me not…." With one petal left, he stopped and held the stem out to her, expectantly. "Plant fate."

Her fingers trembled as she took it from him. "Danny…she can't."

"She might change her mind." He stood up, but instead of turning to leave, he leaned forward and brushed those imperfectly perfect lips across hers. Her lashes fluttered; her breath left her. "Maybe that'll help."

When Lindsay opened her eyes again, he was gone. She looked down at the lone petal clinging to the yellow center. "She loves him." As soon as the words left her mouth, she groaned. "And it's too late to do anything about it."

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To Be Continued? 


	2. Raising Shane

Disclaimer: Characters contained within do not belong to me. 

Author's Notes: This story is heading somewhere; I plan to write a chapter after each new episode. So this one follows last week's episode "Raising Shane." I hope you enjoy it, and thank you so much for your enthusiastic responses to the first chapter!

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The Fate of Daisies

by Kristen Elizabeth

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"I don't know about you, but I could use a beer."

Up until the second Lindsay's sweet voice sliced through the silence of the break room, Danny had been sitting in the dark, his feet propped up on the table, replaying every second of his encounter with Shane Casey in his mind. He'd been through it so many times, in fact, that it was almost starting to seem like a movie he'd watched, instead of reality.

She turned the light on, and he winced. "Damn, Montana. Have a heart."

Folding her arms over her chest, Lindsay shook her head. "How long have you been in here?"

He checked his watch and replied, "None of your business."

"This is really sad. I should just leave and let you wallow."

Danny closed his eyes and rested his head on the back of his chair. "You do what you gotta do."

"But I'm not going to," she finished up. "If you're on your feet in the next thirty seconds, I'll buy the first round."

He was a lot of things, but he wasn't stupid. Turning down free drinks provided by a beautiful woman definitely fell in the 'stupid' category. His feet dropped down onto the floor with two loud thumps as he dragged himself out of his chair.

Lindsay's smile was small, but triumphant.

The bar they chose was a favorite of the crime lab, more for its close location than its selection or service. But there was a good draft on tap and if pressed, they would make a plate of cheese fries that could stop a man's heart. As far as Danny was a concerned, it was an ideal place to get sloshed on Lindsay's tab.

She waited until he was halfway through his first brew before she brought up the day's events. "Rough case."

He refrained from snorting into his mug, but just barely. "Yeah. You could say that."

To his surprise, not only had Lindsay matched his order, she was actually drinking it. No whining about calories or carbs; this was a girl who liked beer. After years of dating women who would only drink Amstel Lights, it was nothing short of a revelation.

And just one more reason why he was head over heels.

"Do you feel like talking about it?"

Danny gave one curt shake of his head, and braced himself for what he assumed would come next, her insistence that he get things off his chest.

But all she did was nod. "Okay. Tell you what. I'll talk about it." She took a sip before continuing. "I hated that you had to go in that bar. I'm pretty sure I held my breath the whole time you were in there."

His Adam's apple bobbed. "Montana…"

"I just kept thinking…" Lindsay looked down into her mug. "…that if something happened to you, you'd never call me that again. And I'd…"

"You'd what?" he prompted after a minute passed in silence.

"I'd never get to tell you…things." Their eyes met, but she looked away quickly and downed about half of what was left of her beer in one gulp.

Danny released a breath. "You're really gonna leave it there, aren't you?"

"I just wanted you to know."

"Know what?" His voice raised a notch in frustration. "That there are things I need to know? But if you ain't gonna tell me what those things are, what's the fucking point of telling me they exist?"

Her eyes flooded with hot tears. "Please don't yell at me."

Guilt washed over him in huge, crushing waves. "I'm sorry. Lindsay…I'm sorry." His hand hovered over her back; he wanted to touch her, but something held him back. "Don't cry, baby. Please."

She ran the back of her hand over her cheeks. "No...I'm sorry. I shouldn't expect you to be nice to me when I'm making everything so confusing."

"Hey, I wouldn't know what to do with a woman who wasn't confusing in some way." Danny tried to smile. "I was starting to think you were too good to be true. I'm kinda glad to find out you're human, Montana."

"Very much human," she sniffed. "And completely capable of making bad decisions." Their eyes met. "Every time I tell myself that keeping our relationship professional is the best choice for us both…you go and do something like bring me flowers or…confront a crazy killer. And suddenly I have to rethink everything."

"Well." Danny lifted his beer. "Good for me."

Lindsay shook her head. "Not good for me. I'm tearing myself up over you."

"Then…stop."

After a second of silence, she reached into her pocket and pulled out enough cash to cover their drinks. "I need to go." She slipped off the barstool.

"I was thinking about you when I was in there," he said getting down from his own stool. "You're always in my head, Montana."

Standing in front of her, Danny could no longer resist pulling her into his arms. Her head fit perfectly against his shoulder, and although she tried to pull away for a few obligatory seconds, she eventually relaxed into the embrace. He inhaled the fragrant scent of her hair, and relished in the feeling of her lithe frame pressed against his.

"Why does this gotta feel so right?" he murmured.

Her arms tightened around his neck. "It's not fair, you know? I came here to be independent."

"I'm no threat to your independence," Danny reminded her. "In fact, I'm all for it."

"Then…will you let me go? Because I'm not strong enough to pull away."

He released her and took a small step back; the edge of his bar stool dug into his butt, but he ignored it. "Don't ask me to forget about this," he said, his tone suddenly as low as his mood. "'Cause I won't."

Lindsay's smile was sad. "Neither will I." She placed her soft palm against his cheek for a few torturous seconds before turning and walking away.

Danny ordered another beer. And then another. He was well into his eighth when Flack entered the bar. He had a vague memory of being pushed into a cab, and then pushed into his apartment. But when he woke up, fully-clothed and sprawled face down on his bed, all he could clearly remember was the flowery scent of Lindsay's shampoo.

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To Be Continued 


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